This post is part of my on-going story that I have been telling through this blog. If you are just coming here for the first time or if you need to catch up, you can catch the earlier parts of the story in Setting the Stage or Act One. See the navigation panel to the right labeled My Story. I hope that my sharing of my story is helpful, encouraging, informative, or at least entertaining for you. Thanks!
The trip to Uganda also set the stage for something else. Two of the missionaries from my church were a couple of young men, Steven and Dane. Not their real names. Pseudonyms are used throughout this blog. Being from the same church, we, of course, knew each other prior to the trip. I would even say that we were friends, but we got much closer during and following the trip.
The trip to Uganda also set the stage for something else. Two of the missionaries from my church were a couple of young men, Steven and Dane. Not their real names. Pseudonyms are used throughout this blog. Being from the same church, we, of course, knew each other prior to the trip. I would even say that we were friends, but we got much closer during and following the trip.
One of the experiences that acted
as a catalyst for us getting closer was when Dane, who had long hair at the
time, decided that he would like to get his hair braided into dreadlocks while
we were in Africa. He had even been
talking to one of the maids at the hotel in which we were staying who said that
she knew a place where he could get it done.
So, Dane and Steven began planning to go out with the maid one evening
to get this done. Many of the others on
the trip were not comfortable with this, including Steven’s mother who was also
on the trip. She didn’t think that they
should go off by themselves in a strange country with someone that they barely
knew.
Steven and Dane began seeking
someone older to go with them. They were
both adults at the time, but they were very young, 18 or 19, I believe. Anyway, they approached me. I have always been the kind of person to say
that, “If there is something you want to do, do it, especially if you are in a
place that you many never make it back to.
So, after a bit of consideration, I agreed to accompany them. In retrospect, this was probably not the
wisest decision, but all worked out in the end.
Our guide, the hotel maid, met us
at the front desk of the hotel on the night that we were to go. She led us out to the street, and we all
jumped into a taxi, essentially a small van that was already packed with multiple
passengers. The van drove us and dropped
us off on the side of a street. It was
dark. There were some fires burning in
barrels on the side of the street, and a few venders who appeared to be selling
cooked meat on the side of the streets.
Our guide quickly led us down the
street and into a very crowded salon. As
soon as we walked in, we heard someone say, “Mzungu,” and many of the people in
the salon snickered or outright laughed.
Mzungu was one of the few Swahili words that I knew, and it simply meant
white person. So, it was clear that we
stood out in the crowded room off all brown faces. We sat and waited for a while. Some of the other patrons spoke to us and
asked us why we were in Uganda. It was
interesting that, at the mention of the church that was hosting us, Kampala
Pentecostal Church or Watoto, the specific ministry we were there working as a
part of, we were immediately given an extra level of deference.
In the past, I have used this as an
example of me feeling what it is to be a racial minority. The current me realizes how incredibly
ignorant that was. If anything, this
experience was an amplified experience of white privilege. Despite the use of the use of the word Mzungu
and the initial snickering, we were immediately pegged as white, male, American,
and Christian, each label granting us a higher level of privilege and respect
as it was identified and placed upon us.
At some point, while Dane’s hair
was being braided, the power went out in the salon. That brought the braiding momentarily to a
halt. The braiding resumed once enough
candles had been brought in to allow the work to continue. The whole process took far longer than any of
us realized it would. It was about 2:00
AM before it was finished. Our hotel
maid guide led us back to the street and into another cab. It was going to be a short night as this took
place during the first leg of our trip before we had left the city to go on
safari. I apologize for this slightly
out-of-order chronology. We were
expected to go to church the next morning.
I was in some hot water the next
morning. My pastor’s son, Marc, who was also on the trip made sure that I knew
that his father was not pleased with me.
He said that his father was up worrying about us all night, and he also
told me that his father would be having words with me about it. That weighed on my mind throughout that day
and the church service. I avoided Pastor
Rob until we were leaving to go on safari.
That’s another reason that I was so happy for that time of laughter in
the back of the bus with him because that let me know that he had either let go
of his anger towards me or that Marc had been exaggerating the extent of it.
Steven and Dane will be key players
in my next post; so, I felt the need to give them a bit of an introduction and
give a glimpse into the nature and dynamic of our friendship. Thank you for reading up to this point. I apologize that I have, yet again, taken
some time off from writing. I had sinus
surgery a couple of weeks ago, and that threw me off a bit, but I hope to get
back on track. I am also considering
doing Act Three as an e-book. I’m
wondering what your thoughts, Faithful Reader, would be on that. If I do so, I would allow a time for those
who are followers of this blog to obtain it either for free or for an extremely
discounted price prior to promoting it more widely. I’m sharing this now for a few reasons. First, I don’t want you to feel like you got
tricked when we get to that point. Second,
by putting it out here, it means I have to finish writing it. Third, I want you to know that I value you
being a part of my community by reading this blog and supporting my voice.
~ Culbs
Twitter: @culbs1138
Also, I am going to be co-hosting a podcast that will be
available for you to listen to soon.
That has also been consuming some of my energy and attention. Please look for updates on that at
Facebook.com/WeAreCompatible
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